Storm the Palace finis AD1666

Well, careful pick up and photos allowed us to finish the scenario the next Friday game.  It has taken longer to report as I forgot to take photos the second half of the game, so inaccuracies in some placements during the recreate are possible. Such is the swirl of swordplay in the 17th century!

Where we left off,

 

 From the bottom, Shetuski and the  mad Delli enter the main room...Hatmi continues to struggle with a musketeer, Jean approaches a window while Aramis holds off Longinus and Esmerelda. In the upper left, Porthos, having despatched Zagloba,  readies to move to entry room. The Burger and Courtesan have just moved into the building seeking safety.

Cossacks find the door a choke point as Kmici and two moislets watch in horror as Hoperya was slammed to the ground by Ibrahim the Sorcerer and rushed by Wolodoski.

 

 D'Artanagn, a cossack and Cimile take a walk in the garden.

  Janissary and Dragoon take shots...

make that 2 Janissary.

Suddenly all hell broke loose.

 

The Janissary pulls off a great shot, the Cossack sniper goes down .

 

Porthos bullies the Courtesan and the burgher.

 

Still no sign of the letter, where is it hidden? Porthos actually kills the courtesan. What did she do to anger the Musketeer?

The Cossacks feel the heat in combined magic and swordplay. 

In the end, we called it a tie, nothing gained , the cards were all lost.  The French had lost Jean, a musketeer and Aramis; the Poles were down Zagloba and a dragoon while Longinus and Wolodosky were injured but standing; the Cossacks down Esaul Anton and Hopyrna  as well as a moiliets; the Ottomans, they came away unscathed with several kills or assists, Esmarelda smiling and picking up her knives.  Oh, that rascal Bohun? He ran upstairs and ended up with some jewels, no doubt, for his trouble.

 The game came to a head about 5 turns in as the red team (Cossacks and Musketeers ) sent over half its members in through the side doors and windows. The blue team (Poles and Ottomans) put firepower on the steps and had wave after wave of melee experts inside the mansion, taking early losses but holding the intruders.  Over the next three turns so much damage occurred to all four factions it was agreed to call the game.

 

 It is the group's opinion that the card driven mechanics and the interplay of character skills and equipment make this a great game for two, three or four players...and we've barely used half the opportunities for playing the various scenarios.

Imagination campaign S'Gottland raid into disputed counties--The Peasants are Revolting, part 1

 I think a mention of several mini campaigns were assigned, here is a 'first contact' report of S'Gottland's incursion into the Basque counties of the Orbajosa imperium.

Modeled on the "Peasants are revolting" Dawn's & Deliberations scenario, a column of 'guerillas' are making a tour through a county in a disputed area. It is early on and an isolated outpost is being overrun at Lonely Manner.  The photos tell all that's needed  to know.

Sa the forces of Gottland move forward, they pick up squads of militia which represent the populace turning out.  These militia will turn into drilled troops or more guerillas, either way making the area less swayed by the small garrisons presently maintained by Orbajosa.

Or will the field  forces of Orbajosa nip the rebellion in the bud and trounce the expeditionary force of S'Gottland?

More to come.

So many  games, so little time.

 

( Editors note...it has been brought to 

my attention that Orbajosa is a kingdom, not an empire. Duly noted, 

hereby demoted. )

Something old....FPW. units

 Just a post for April, no fooling. Well maybe the captions will make you smile.  Out of the FPW collection that has been cooped up in boxes for almost two decades. 

A mix of Foundry and Sussex mini's. Thick basing was to protect figures from clumsy players by providing a grip.

More recent sculpts, Calpe Prussian Jager. Yes, the more recent sculpts look like I have thinner bases. Slave to fashion, I guess.

Makes me hungry for pickles!

One more, I have some French as well.

These last may get recounted for skirmish games, not sure yet. Foundry figures here.

Storm the Palace, AD1666, part 1

 

 The game was big, four factions, the two largest boards, and all three of us playing. 

 The scenario  "Storm the Castle " saw Greg's King Musketeers and Roger with the Cossacks attacking while I defended with the Poles and Ottomans.

Greg came in with King's musketeers through the left windows.

and the garden

 

Roger took the Cossacks through the left windows

and  the garden.

Porthos and Zagloba meet, it did not end well for Zagloba

In the garden, Polish Dragoons and Ottoman Janissary whittled down the foes.

Aramis , in center, defends against Longinus and Esmerelda.

The Cossacks manfully oppose Wolodovski and Ibrahim

More outside and inside shots.

We called a pick up in place, recorded losses, wounds and positions. A second day finished the game. To be continued.

. 

Situational mini campaigns in the imagination campaign

Well, coming up on a second year of campaigning with no wars to report. All of the player-rulers have been loathe to be the aggressor.  Sure, some Chosen Men border  activity between Roger and Greg and Barry  has occurred but diplomatic efforts have kept relations below a boil. 

To try and supply interesting scenarios and make a battle have campaign consequences,  something has been added.

I have come upon a great tool in a supplement in the Too Fat Lardies' webstore called 'Dawns & Deliberations.'  The supplement is for Sharpe Practice but with only a little tweaking, it will support our Chosen Men scenarios.

The operable takeaway is a structured approach for some ladder style and decision point campaigns, along with over a dozen ' themes ' giving background, missions, partial deployments and scenario specific rules.

The  players for Dahara and S'Gottland have agreed to try the system out. They each are getting a map and instructions for their specific campaign. As the games unfold, I will offer up reports.  The good news for them is little paperwork beyond orders are needed and at least two to five good scenarios should occur.

Here are the stylized maps for the players.  They are a bit light on screen but will be used in hand by the players.

 Daharan Forces to chase fugitive General

 Note that both sketch maps have a three column eight row format. This is the basic overlay for all the maps, and regulates deployment and movement.

 S'Gottland forces to drum up local supporters

Actual table layouts are determined for each tabletop adventure.

The players are to get an allotment of points, Chosen Men units are mustered and orders & reports start flying as  men start marching and fighting.

I will be approaching Barry and Peter to see if they would like something similar.

Trainride: Savage Worlds' first outing-Roger

Well, stage is set for a train ride from Rome to Brindisi, Roger's character braved it without the more experienced player ( Greg could not make the session, had one game under his belt. )

Roger's character, ex German Army officer, chatted up a mixture of upper class ( ticket category, that is ) passengers on the trip. The happy Bavarian traveler is next headed to either Greece or Egypt.  Roger's is picking out a suitable figure for the character and as such the train trotting Tueton was unavailable to the photographer.

I did want  to show how effective the train tiles from Mansions of Madness were in the game. Since the action was inside the cars, the tiles were very useful.

Not featured but shown in the background include the baggage car and caboose cards.

Engine compartment.

First class club car.

First class sleeper.

 First class car.

Observation car.

Second class dining car.

Second class coach.

Just deleted 60+ spams

Sorry, comment filter back on.